Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980

44Detention and release on licence of children convicted on indictment

For section 206 of the 1975 Act there shall be substituted the following section—

“206Detention and release on licence of children convicted on indictment.

(1)Subject to section 205 of this Act, where a child is convicted and the court is of the opinion that no other method of dealing with him is appropriate, it may sentence him to be detained for a period which it shall specify in the sentence; and the child shall during that period be liable to be detained in such place and on such conditions as the Secretary of State may direct.

(2)Subject to subsection (3) below, the Secretary of State may release on licence, on such conditions as may for the time being be specified in the licence, a person detained under subsection (1) above.

(3)Where a person has been sentenced under subsection (1) above to be detained for a period exceeding 18 months, the Secretary of State—

(a)shall not release him on licence under subsection (2) above except on the recommendation of the Parole Board for Scotland (in this section referred to as " the Board "); and

(b)shall consult the Board with regard to the inclusion or subsequent insertion of any condition in the licence or the variation or cancellation of any such condition ; but for the purposes of this paragraph the Secretary of State shall be treated as having consulted the Board about a proposal to include, insert, vary or cancel a condition in any case if he has consulted the Board about the implementation of proposals of that description generally or in that class of case.

(4)A licence granted under subsection (2) above shall, unless previously revoked under subsection (5) below, remain in force until the expiry of the period of—

(a)detention specified by the court under subsection (1) above; or

(b)12 months from the date of release under the licence,

whichever is the later.

(5)The Secretary of State may—

(a)on the recommendation of the Board; or

(b)at his own instance, where it appears to him to be in the public interest to do so before consultation with the Board is practicable,

revoke a licence granted under subsection (2) above and recall the person released under the licence to a place in which the Secretary of State directs that he should be detained; and on such revocation, the person shall be liable to be detained in pursuance of his sentence, and, if at large, shall be deemed to be unlawfully at large.

(6)The Secretary of State shall inform a person recalled under subsection (5) above of the reasons for his recall, so that the person may make representations in writing with respect to his recall to the Board; and the Board may, on receipt of such representations, require the Secretary of State to release him on licence forthwith.

(7)Subject to subsection (6) above, a person detained in pursuance of subsection (5) above shall remain in detention until the expiry of the period of—

(a)detention specified by the court under subsection (1) above; or

(b)3 months from the date of the commencement of his detention in pursuance of the said subsection (5), whichever is the later:

Provided that the Secretary of State may, at any time before the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph (a) above, again release him on licence.”.